Addiction is defined as not having control over doing, taking or using something to the point where it could be harmful to you.

Addiction is most commonly associated with gambling, drugs, alcohol and nicotine, but it’s possible to be addicted to just about anything, including:

Work – workaholics are obsessed with their work to the extent that they suffer physical exhaustion. If your relationship, family, and social life are suffering and you never take holidays, you may be a work addict.

Internet – as computer and mobile phone use has increased, so too have computer and internet addictions. People may spend hours each day and night surfing the internet or gaming while neglecting other aspects of their lives.

Solvents – volatile substance abuse is when you inhale substances such as glue, aerosols, petrol or lighter fuel to give you a feeling of intoxication. Solvent abuse can be fatal.

Shopping – shopping becomes an addiction when you buy things you don’t need or want to achieve a buzz. This is quickly followed by feelings of guilt, shame or despair.

WHAT CAUSES ADDICTIONS?

There are lots of reasons why addictions begin. In the case of drugs, alcohol, and nicotine, these substances affect the way you feel, both physically and mentally. These feelings can be enjoyable and create a powerful urge to use the substances again.

Gambling may result in a similar mental “high” after a win, followed by a strong urge to try again and recreate that feeling. This can develop into a habit that becomes very hard to stop.

Being addicted to something means that not having it causes withdrawal symptoms, or a “come down”. Because this can be unpleasant, it’s easier to carry on having or doing what you crave, and so the cycle continues.

Often, an addiction gets out of control because you need more and more to satisfy a craving and achieve the “high”.

HOW ADDICTIONS CAN AFFECT YOU

The strain of managing an addiction can seriously damage your work life and relationships. In the case of substance abuse (for example, drugs and alcohol), an addiction can have serious psychological and physical effects.

Some studies suggest addiction is genetic, but environmental factors, such as being around other people with addictions, are also thought to increase the risk.

An addiction can be a way of blocking out difficult issues. Unemployment and poverty can trigger addiction, along with stress and emotional or professional pressure.

GETTING HELP FOR ADDICTIONS

Addiction is a treatable condition. Whatever the addiction, there are lots of ways you can seek help. You could see your GP for advice or contact an organization that specializes in helping people with addictions.

Our Intake counselor can also help you find addiction treatment services in your area:

Alcohol addiction services

Drug addiction services

Stop smoking services

To speak to someone anonymously about any kind of addiction, you can also call the Wits Inn Recovery on (949) 292-2000

(949) 292-2000http://www.WitsEndIntervention.comhttp://www.WEinterventions@gmail.com
The Intervention Process: Your Questions Answered
Pre-Intervention
The intervention begins at the Family Meeting. The counselor holds a planning, education and therapy session with the intervention group the night before the intervention. Each member of the intervention group will be asked to write a letter about their experiences in order to help the treatment staff later work through the issues the client will be faced with. The counselor leads the group toward a presentation of one unified message: “You have a problem, we have a solution. We offer all of our collective support for your recovery and will no longer tolerate, or enable, your addiction in any way. We love you so much we have had difficulty saying no to you. We have now brought in a professional to guide us in setting boundaries and consequences. We will not go back to the status quo. Today is the day the abuse stops.”
We understand that everyone has been worried and has differing thoughts of what should be done. The professional interventionist polls everybody’s energy and gets it all moving in one direction. We discus and eliminate all of the reasons the addict will have for not going to treatment. We delegate the client’s daily life tasks among the participants (ie taking care of the kids, pets, the house) to alleviate this stress from the addict. We also deal with employment issues. We also decide as a group what we will do for the client while they are in treatment, and what the consequences are if they try to refuse this gift.
Wit’s Inn Recovery has a 98% success rate.
The Intervention
As an informed, educated, and organized group in agreement with our goal, we meet with the client. We do not have to solve all family problems, nor do we have to know how the addiction can possibly be healed. We go to the addict with one common understanding: our loved one must have professional help, or may soon die. Treatment is essential. We have done our homework and made the best arrangements, and today is the day. We are here with all of our love and power to stop the downward spiral here and now.

Transport 6
We get the client ready and willing, and then take them to treatment. The power and intensity of the intervention opens a window of opportunity. The client is emotionally transcended into a state of willingness. Whether this state of willingness is brought about by the presentation of love and concern, or the fear of consequences, the result is the same. It’s a short window. We must continue in action immediately, before the denial mechanism takes control again. The message at the end of the intervention is you have 20 minutes to pack, our flight leaves in about an hour. At this point we keep the stimulus very low. The client most likely is in a reflective state of mind and does not want much interaction. We need an independent means of transportation to the airport, or a family member who will not elicit any farther confrontation from the client.
When the intervention is over it is over. We stop the confrontation and let the client lean into the impartial professionalism of the counselor.
I am also a recovering addict. The therapeutic value of one addict helping another is without parallel. The interventionist and the client fly or drive to the treatment center together.
Transition
The counselor completes the transition from the intervention into the treatment admissions process. We make every effort to introduce them to the staff and explain the process of making themselves comfortable.
The interventionist explains to the counseling staff the disposition of the intervention and the reports of the family in an effort to educate the treatment staff as to the truths the client needs to face and work through. The intervention letters are given to the staff for the client to use later in therapy.

One goal of treatment is to break down their denial of the severity of the disease. Another treatment goal is to resolve and let go of resentment. Reviewing the intervention letters with a sober head and the guidance of a therapist is done to bring about an understanding of the love involved in the gift of intervention and recovery. We do recover.
(949) 292-2000http://www.WitsEndIntervention.comhttp://www.WEinterventions@gmail.com
Recovery Brings Hope
loriann.witte@gmail.com

Prescription drug use at an all time high amongst the American people. CALL US TODAY 949 292 2000

Oklahoma- The holidays can be a stressful and even depressing time for many people. Statistics have shown that drug abuse increases during this period as many can turn to drugs as a way to alleviate strain during the holiday season. However this year, more and more people are turning to prescription drugs with the abuse of these medications skyrocketing nationwide.

According to data released by the Department of Health and Human Services, nearly half of the American population is taking at least one prescription drug, with one in six taking three or more. American people from all different socio-economic backgrounds are seeking out prescription medication for various reasons; some getting hooked after taking the medications for an illness or ailment and others who fall into the trap of addiction because they begin taking drugs to help them deal with some mental or emotional problem.

“[Americans] have a penchant for going for the quick fix,” says Dr. Lon Castle, Senior Director of the Department of Medical and Analytical Affairs for Medco. “They want medications to treat their problems rather than trying diet and exercise or lifestyle changes, which might also be effective.”

According to Castle, prescription drugs may not be the best route to take when hoping to change your lifestyle physically or emotionally. They may also be the least beneficial when it comes to health. Although there are a number of prescription drugs which can assist an individual of poor health, many people are taking prescription drugs which do little to benefit them causing side effects; the primary one being addiction.

“We’re taking drugs we really need and we don’t, but the body doesn’t know the difference when it comes to side effects,” says Dr. Mark H. Beers, professor of medicine at the University of Miami School of Medicine and editor-in-chief emeritus of Merck Manuals.

The solution to better health may reside in a simple change in diet and exercise but it for those already addicted the only solution may be through successful rehabilitation.

One drug rehab center, Wits Inn Recovery is seeing a huge increase in the number of admissions into their treatment facility for prescription drug addiction. Derry Hallmark, Senior Director for Expansion for the center explains that this is not uncommon considering the number of people currently taking prescriptions.

“Of course if an individual has to take these medications for an illness or injury that’s one side of it,” says Hallmark. “But because of the addictive qualities of most prescriptions both doctor’s and patients have to be aware of how easily someone can get hooked on them. And, doctors have to watch out for those already addicted who are trying to get fraudulent prescriptions.”

Hallmark adds that drug rehab, like the type delivered by Wits Inn Recovery is effective in handling any type of prescription drug addiction and that the type of treatment that works best for prescriptions is one that handles both the mental and physical aspects of the problem.

For more information on getting help for you or someone you know who is struggling with a prescription drug addiction contact Wits Inn Treatment Referral today at 949 292 2000

You have read the blogs and seen the placards a dozen times: doctors prescribe too many “drugs” for too many patients. Psychiatrists, in particular, are popular targets of politically motivated language that seeks to conflate the words “medication” and “drug”—thereby tapping into the public’s understandable fears concerning “drug abuse” and its need to carry out a “War on Drugs.” Misleading radio ads promise “drug-free” treatment of panic disorder (certainly possible, but not always achievable) and the Internet bristles with the phrase, “psychiatric drugging.” (My Google search pulled up 9310 results.) And, all too predictably, any physician who argues that psychotropic medication is often an effective and lifesaving intervention is hustled off to the perp line of “drug-company shills.”

All this will not surprise students of language, history, and philosophy. Those who control language are well positioned to control thought and behavior. If government officials can persuade the public that killing innocent civilians is merely “collateral damage,” they have gone a long way toward justifying the carpet-bombing of a village. If the forces of antipsychiatry—and they are alive and well—can persuade the public that psychiatry is “drugging” people, they have gone a long way toward marginalizing and discrediting the profession. To understand how powerful the words “drug” and “drugging” are, imagine the feckless campaign that would be waged if the perennial protesters in front of the American Psychiatric Association’s Annual Meeting carried signs that read, “Psychiatrists: Stop Medicating Your Patients!

Is this all merely a matter of “semantics” or—in the parlance of postmodernism—“competing narratives”? Is there any scientific reason to distinguish “drugs” from “medications”? And finally, what are our ethical obligations as healers when medication is administered, either voluntarily or involuntarily?

There is, of course, a qualified scientific case to be made against overuse of some psychotropic medications. In the first place, we have far too many medications that employ the same old mechanism of action, with only modest efficacy, and too many unacceptable adverse effects. The so-called atypical antipsychotics (AAPs) are good examples. With the exception of clozapine—and possibly risperidone and olanzapine, according to a meta-analysis—the AAPs are not substantially more effective than the first-generation neuroleptics.1 Meta-analyses, of course, must be viewed cautiously, since the studies that compose them may be flawed or biased, and unpublished “negative” studies may be excluded, as my colleague S. Nassir Ghaemi, MD, has pointed out.2 Thankfully, decreased rates of tardive dyskinesia with the AAPs are a bright spot in this otherwise dour assessment, and this is no trivial gain.

Nonetheless, the metabolic adverse effects of the AAPs (weight gain, lipid and glucose dysregulation, and so on) are substantial problems and call into question the goal of expanding the labeled “nonpsychotic” indications for these medications.3 We sorely need to escape from the “D2–5-HT2–me too” paradigm—antipsychotics that block mainly dopamine-2 and various serotonin receptors—and uncover more fundamental mechanisms of antipsychotic action. Critics of psychiatry are indeed justifiably skeptical regarding “Big Pharma’s” concerted efforts to expand the use of AAPs to the treatment of nonpsychotic conditions, for which effective and better-tolerated medications are already available. And yes—many of these same critics are quite properly alarmed at the decreasing use of psychotherapy in psychiatric practice.4

Methamphetamine addiction can wreak havoc on your life and on the lives of those around you. Call Recovery Connection today at 949-292-2000 to find a treatment program capable of helping you though this difficult time. Your call is toll-free and confidential. We have counselors standing by 24/7, so call now and start on the path to recovery.

Methamphetamine Effects

Methamphetamine greatly stimulates a person’s central nervous system and the euphoric feeling can last anywhere from a few hours to as long as twenty four hours. Methamphetamine addiction can cause short and long term adverse physical and mental effects which may include:

Elevated blood pressure

Hypertension

Chest pain

Irreversible damage to blood vessels in the brain

Heart Attack

Accelerated heart beat

Stroke

Insomnia

Aggressive behavior

Jerky movements

Paranoia

Incessant conversations

Convulsions

Hypothermia

Brain damage

Malnutrition

Decrease in appetite

Increase in alertness

Increased physical activity

Increased irritability

Impaired immune system

Blood clots

Kidney disorders

Liver damage

Additional physical effects of methamphetamine addiction or abuse can include:

Slurred speech

Dilated pupils

Grinding of the teeth

Dizziness

Confusion

Respiratory distress

Sweats

Loss of coordination

Numbness

Methamphetamine Addiction – Psychological Methamphetamine Effects

The use and abuse of methamphetamine, or crystal meth, can cause effects which can often resemble several types of mental illnesses. These psychological effects may include:

Visual and auditory hallucinations

Obsessive behaviors

Intense anger and paranoia

Panic attacks

Depression

Methamphetamine Addiction Withdrawal Symptoms

Withdrawal from methamphetamines is extremely uncomfortable and in some cases life threatening. Methamphetamine addiction withdrawal symptoms may include:

Drug cravings

Nausea

Irritability

Depression

Loss of energy

Insomnia

Sweats

Hyperventilation

Convulsions

Irregular heart beat

Because of the severity of this withdrawal, many people choose to enter detox or methamphetamine addiction treatment programs to assist them in coping with these symptoms. In addition to withdrawal, crystal meth can affect many other areas of a person’s life, including placing their job at risk, damaging their relationships and ruining their financial stability. Quality treatment in a professional addiction recovery center is required for a safe and effective recovery from this dangerously addictive drug.

Treatment for Methamphetamine Addiction

It takes time to resolve both the emotional and physical trauma people experience due to methamphetamine addiction. It also takes time to learn how to cope with the feelings the person has suppressed. This process is best undergone in a supportive therapeutic environment (www.wirecovery.com) which is designed to eliminate outside distractions. This allows the individual to focus on the key issues surrounding their recovery.

If you or someone you know needs help with methamphetamine addiction, or for immediate assistance in finding a reputable drug rehab center, please call Recovery Connection now at 949-292-2000. Help is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and your call is toll-free and confidential. In a time when you feel so alone, it is important to know that there are people who can still help. Don’t wait – CALL 949 292 2000

An Illinois House committee has forwarded legislation to the full House that would make marijuana for medicinal purposes legal in this state.

A number of states – Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington among them – have decriminalized marijuana when it is used for medical purposes.

Although more states are considering similar legislation, we urge Illinois lawmakers to defeat this measure.

We acknowledge that marijuana use likely has some medical benefits. Limited studies have shown that it can improve conditions related to appetite loss, nausea and vomiting and help ease pain caused by arthritis and other conditions.

But other, FDA-approved drugs already are available to treat each of these ailments.

And smoking marijuana regularly also can cause serious health problems. It can damage brain cells and cells in bronchial passages, which can hurt a person’s immune system. There also is not enough data to conclusively show what the long-term health effects of regular marijuana use are.

Finally, any medical benefits that legalizing pot would have are outweighed by the societal problems it could create.

Marijuana is a gateway drug that can lead users to try more dangerous, addictive drugs, creating a greater burden on an already-stressed health care system.

Marijuana users who drive are impaired, increasing the chances of serious automobile accidents similar to drunk-driving related accidents.

Legalization increases the chances of the drug falling into the hands of children and others who don’t need it for medical reasons. It also sends a message to children that drug use is OK.

Absorption
Cocaine enters the body in one of three ways: injection, smoking, or snorting.

Metabolism/Elimination
Cocaine is a strong stimulant to the central nervous system. Its effects can last anywhere from 20 minutes to several hours, depending on the content, purity, administration, and dosage of the drug.

Brief Overview
a. Cocaine users become dependent on the drug.
b. Crack is a form of the drug that is highly addictive.
c. Exposure to the drug can harm a developing fetus.
d. It produces short-lived senses of euphoria, the length depends on how the drug was administered.

Special Hazards Involving the Driving Task
a. Cocaine may successfully mask fatigue, however, high dosages impair judgment and interfere with the ability of the driver to concentrate.
b. Coordination and vision are impaired.
c. There is an increase in impulsive behaviors with tendencies to take more risks and create confusion within the user.

Effects with Other Drugs
a. Additive effects are noted when cocaine is combined with over-the-counter products, such as diet pills or antihistamines.
b. Cocaine taken with psychotropic drugs, especially antidepressants, can be extremely detrimental.
c. A person who has extremely high blood pressure and uses cocaine may suffer from a stroke or heart attack.
d. Some users combine cocaine with alcohol and sedatives to cushion the “crash” or feeling of depression and agitation that sometimes occurs as the effects of cocaine wear off.
e. A person using cocaine maintains the illusion of being alert and stimulated, although physical reactions are impaired.
f. Further research indicates that additive and antagonistic effects can be produced when cocaine is mixed with alcohol.
g. If cocaine is used in high doses, as in the case of overdose, alcohol will probably have an additive effect on the symptoms that eventually contribute to death.
h. When cocaine is injected in combination with heroin, sometimes called “speedballing,” there is an increased risk of toxicity, overdose, and death.